I've never felt in danger on London's roads, says Cycling Minister Robert Goodwill

The Cycling Minister said today he saw both very good and very bad infrastructure on a ride around the capital but denied he felt in danger at any time.

Robert Goodwill spent an hour cycling around London, from Kings Cross to Westminster via Camden, Southwark and Lambeth.

The minister praised new "light segregation" recently installed on Camden's Royal College Street, where armadillo bumps and flower pots separate cyclists from traffic.

But Mr Goodwill criticised confusing road markings and bike lanes in Southwark, after venturing south of the Thames on his Brompton folding bicycle, joined by Department for Transport aides.

The minister urged cyclists to position themselves positively on the roads and make sure vehicle drivers know their intentions.

Mr Goodwill said: "I didn't feel in danger at any time - I do cycle in London but I think if I was a London cycling virgin I would have been a little bit nervous, possibly.

"When we came out of Kings Cross, we got on to some quite good segregated routes, some quiet routes I didn't even know existed. We went down Royal College Street where they have spent a lot of money... I thought that was fine and I felt safe. Because of the little armadillos, if the cyclist did need to cross over the road to get to a shop they can weave in between, but a car can't get over.

"In a way, because it's much cheaper I would rather see a lot of that and less total segregation, which is quite expensive.

"There was a bizarre one in Southwark where I went across the road and there was a cycle lane coming the other way, but the cycle lane on our side started three metres later and then it was on a footpath. It was marked on the footpath but there was no ramp or anything."

Mr Goodwill, who cycles in his Yorkshire constituency and to his London office, said he wanted to see more women riding bikes around London and more people in suits - rather than Lycra-clad cyclists.

He said if people position themselves in the middle of lanes, indicate clearly to trucks and other vehicles their intentions, then cycling can be safe.

"The advice I get from my officials is women are more nervous about going on the roads than men," he said.

"Also, sadly, women are possibly more likely - or inexperienced older people, men as well - to be at the lefthand side of the road, thinking they are safe near the kerb when actually they should be in the box at the front, behind the advance stop line, taking possession of their lane, making it clear to people behind they are turning or going straight on.

"If people around you know what you intend to do, you're much safer."

But asked if he understood why nervous cyclists did not want to share the road with much larger vehicles, Mr Goodwill said: "I can understand why people do feel a bit nervous and why you have to have your wits about you in London - for example, don't cycle when you're drunk.

"I sometimes think people on Boris bikes who have not much experience cycling in London are probably putting themselves in danger - but I didn't feel any danger."

Mr Goodwill said he was sceptical about the possibility of a ban on heavy good vehicles at peak times, insisting it had made little difference in Paris and adding that vehicles such as dustcarts need to move around the city, while deliveries being made at night cause noise problems.

"There are issues to be looked at in terms of side protection bars on tipper lorries, on skip wagons, on certain other refuse wagons," Mr Goodwill said.

"Experience in other countries like Denmark and Holland has shown you can design a network in an urban environment which is safe for cyclists and we do need to do more.

"What we need to do is transplant the best I have seen into some of the areas where I have also seen the worst.

"Some of the worst areas are because of not much investment. But some of them are actually areas where they have spent quite a bit of money but it has not been spent intelligently.

"We need to review some of the road-marking legislation... low-level signals for cyclists so they can see them, there's things like that we can do."